(okay so if you ask my wife it is "our" money)
I got the go ahead to buy a burner and kettle, but I have a budget of about 150 bucks. Can anyone point me in the right direction, I am pretty new to this outdoor brewing thing....

(okay so if you ask my wife it is "our" money)
I got the go ahead to buy a burner and kettle, but I have a budget of about 150 bucks. Can anyone point me in the right direction, I am pretty new to this outdoor brewing thing....

What size batch will you brew? We can't recommend a kettle without knowing what size you need.

Bayou Classic makes a couple of great burners, the SQ10 and SQ14. The SQ10 has a higher BTU rating and is about $10 cheaper, but it's a three-legged model and looks a little unstable to be boiling 5+ gallons. The SQ14 is four-legged and has plenty of BTUs to get 8 gallons to a rolling boil in about 20 minutes. At Amazon, the SQ14 is $49, the SQ10 is $39.

With your budget, you can afford a steel kettle (and still have $ for a batch). Many say aluminum is fine, which it probably is, but if you can afford steel, why take any chances? For 5g boils, you'l want a kettle of about 8g to account for boil-off. I use a 9g and it works fine, especially with Fermcap. Watch the pot at initial boil and hop additions, though - the wort climbs to the top very quickly. Keep one hand on the gas regulator or you can boilover easily.

Wow, great thanks for the info. I was just going to post that I was interested in the sq14 or the 1114 which is more than 2 times the cost. So I think I am going to go with the SQ14, Any specifics on a pot? I am so happy if I can pick out a pot I will order this today!

I'll second that SQ-14...damn good burner and will be able to handle up to 20 gallons of liquid. That leaves about $100 for the kettle. If it were me, I'd grab a Sanke keg for $35 or so and add a ball valve to it for another $25. That's a 15.5 gallon "keggle" for under $100, and you'll be able to use it for years even if you go up to brewing 10 gallon batches.

On the other hand, if you want a more standard kettle Austin Homebrew has a pretty cheap 10 gallon for just $70.